fata morgana
Joel Chace
Corridor in — in a
lake. Hallway, _____________The relationship between philosophy
and architecture is inter-
rogative and propositional. It
is about asking questions concerning the
meaning of human ha-
bitation.
at lake bottom. Of
water: ceiling, walls,
floor where he moves __________________...that the main task of arch-
itecture is the interpretation
of a way of life…
forward, with clip-
board, pen. On each side,
watery doors ___________________They do not last long, but change as
the vapors in which they ap-
pear, from one place to another.
open, hands thrust
documents towards him.
He signs, signs,
advances, signs. That
corridor. That life.
***
There’s a way up,
out, one path out, ____________________Its implicit admission that all
this may be a put-on, may not
be worth your while. The poi-
gnancy of this situation
heightens our response.
up from the cor-
ridor, but
he’s so tired.
***
In a raised well. A
clear, invisible __________________And although these colors have left
no visible traces of themselves,
they nevertheless burn in-
sidiously in the non-
color that has replaced them.
well brought up into
light, into a space. As if
he speaks from within a
column of glass air. As ______The whole mountain was in a trembling
motion; one part collapsed and left
behind a great valley; a new
peak arose, higher than before;
and next to this se-
veral others, cone-shaped,
but immediately as-
summed the form of immense rectangular
towers, which likewise tumbled in
a moment and opened huge valleys.
if he is a Banquo come
back to tell them he
didn’t deserve twenty
mortal murders on his
head, that he can just
barely be in their
world anymore, that those
he returns to instruct or __________In one and the same act, philosophy
and architecture enclose man in
their shell and structure, and dis-
close open vistas, new ho-
rizons, spiritual
possibilities of expansion
and self-realization.
murder will not stay murdered
or instructed, unlike
a Banquo who returns but
cannot be unmur-
dered or stay for long in
the well in the light, ___________In this same sea yet another won-
der: when the storm ceases and the air
becomes still, at dawn,
changing images of an-
imals and men in the air.
that well, raised up.
***
When it rises, __________________________Thus, the final stand-
ard of architectural val-
ue for some is the ethical.
he spends weeks huf-
fing from one gleaming hallway
to the next, never
certain, arriving minutes
after others have given ____________Some are quite motion-
less, some run through air, some
fight among themselves, and last e-
ven until the Sun gains strength,
in whose heat all disappear.
up and left: too many cor-
ners; too many stairs. ___________________We should evaluate build-
ings according to how well
they make possible de-
sired forms of life.
***
Odd room to enter: re-
dolent of a-
bandonment even _________________________Some plea-
sure is really
something else: to name
it would be to see it va-
nish.
when occupied. Each day
a palimpsest of air
hangs, with the last
layer fluttering be- __________________They soon climbed to 2 degrees
height, but then began
to take on man-
ifold forms, and this disp-
lay convinced me that they
were something quite
different from clouds.
hind once the final
visitor departs. Then
he wanders to a bank of
windows. Early-winter,
late-afternoon gray
reflects steeples and lights down
in the village back into
the space at his back, to which
he turns, thinking, “Is design
luck’s residue? Is it time
for a new philosophy
of rooms that deserve ______________Philosophy and architecture have
the coming task of hea-
ling the split of knowledge and
feeling, of indi-
vidual and community.
sorrow? Is there nothing in
the dark that’s not
there in the light?”
***
Whole side of the old
building, whole old side, falls _____________There is a power to fix for
eternity the disappearance
of that which pre-
sents itself, or the
power to prod-
uce presence itself
as Idea.
outward. He
stands directly in
the collapse-path. What smashes
over him — a large window ____________Standing at the casement, I
finally saw it, a mountain ri-
sing from the sea about 60
Italian miles away, like
a dark-blue cloud.
I became ve-
ry uneasy.
pane, his still upright
body exactly at its
center. All the shards that ________________They aren’t all-
usions or comments,
however ob-
lique. They are themselves
what is ha-
ppening.
scatter do him no harm: the
weather frigid; his heavy
cap and coat prevent
even the tiniest scratch.
Joel Chace has published work in print and electronic magazines including The Tip of the Knife, Counterexample Poetics, OR, Country Music, Infinity’s Kitchen, Jacket and E·ratio. His collections include Sharpsburg (Cy Gist Press), Blake’s Tree (Blue & Yellow Dog Press), Whole Cloth (Avantacular Press), Red Power (Quarter After Press), Kansoz (Knives, Forks, and Spoons Press) and Web Too (Tonerworks).
